35. Havoc
Havoc
“This is going to work.” Ghost claps me on the shoulder.
“It better.” I shoot off a text to Chaos, letting him know we found nothing at the safe house.
All we need right now is for Titan to believe we’re searching Iron Sinners-owned properties. Which is why Reaper’s crew from Reno is spread across Vegas, intentionally setting off every activity sensor they can to make Titan think his plan is working.
After searching for Anderson for weeks, we finally realized why there were no hints to his location. Titan had to be keeping him close, like he did with Aimee all those years ago. And to do so, he must have him at the one place the Twisted Kings can’t get access.
The Iron Sinners compound.
Like the Twisted Kings, the Iron Sinners keep their main compound under strict lockdown, careful about who they let inside the gates. And after we breached their fence line once to rescue Luna from her former foster brother, they’ve heightened security in every way.
There is no way to get through their grid without alerting them unless it’s taken down from the inside first. And there’s only one person Titan would willingly let through without thinking anything of it.
I considered every option that didn’t involve using Aimee, but she’s the one person who can get past Titan’s defenses without him becoming suspicious. With her willing to help for her own closure, there was no other plan that made sense.
I grit my teeth when Chaos doesn’t respond to my text. It means things are going to plan, but I hate the silence.
The waiting.
“Fuck, that’s going to hurt tomorrow.” Ghost winces, watching a live feed on his phone. “They knocked Chaos out.”
At least they didn’t kill him. Sometimes I wonder if Chaos has a death wish. Out of every position to pull off today’s plan, his was the most dangerous.
“I’ll let Venom know so he can move in the second the Iron Sinners clear out of the area.”
Titan thinks Chaos is the only one in the vicinity because Chaos had a better chance of walking away if Titan didn’t feel threatened.
But that doesn’t mean no one else was there.
Venom and a few other members arrived last night to hide in a building near the meetup.
They knew not to move unless something went sideways, and only to come out to help Chaos after all was said and done .
“They have her.” Those words finally have me glancing down at Ghost’s phone.
No matter how many times I’ve run through this plan in my head, nothing prepares me for watching Titan take Aimee. My heart drops to the pit of my stomach.
“Don’t worry. She’s got this. Titan will be too busy bragging to do anything right away. And she knows to press the panic button I gave her if something changes.”
I wish Ghost’s words were comforting, but they aren’t. Titan has her.
Again.
Blood courses through my veins. And I feel every second of our lost time together stretch. I watch as Titan leads my old lady into the back of a van and almost lose my breakfast in the dirt.
“Time to get in position.” Steel looks at me. “You going to be okay?”
I nod, swallowing down my emotions.
Think now.
Feel later.
I told Aimee my mantra from the military this morning. Now I’m reminding myself.
“I’m good.” I pull out my phone, calling Reaper.
His crew is already headed back and will be in position soon.
When we hang up, I call Blaze to make sure the LA club is ready on the opposite side of the Iron Sinners property. It’s difficult to stay hidden in broad daylight, so they’re having to use overgrown brush to their advantage .
Blaze confirms everyone is ready, so I move to the next club. Then the next.
After spending the past couple of weeks reaching out to different chapters of the Twisted Kings, they made good on their promise to show up for us when the time came.
Some are here for friendship or loyalty.
Others are here to make a stand against the Iron Sinners, knowing it will help with trade battles in their own territories.
Regardless of their reasoning, I’m thankful.
The only way to take out the Iron Sinners is to strike them with a force so overwhelming they don’t stand a chance.
A force much larger than the one we have in Vegas. A force of clubs united.
And now, the Iron Sinners compound is secretly surrounded.
They think they’re safe. But as soon as Aimee hits the button on the remote Ghost gave her, we’ll have our way in.
The hour we wait after the van holding Aimee passes through the gate feels like days. Aimee still hasn’t hit the panic button, so all I can do is hope that she’s okay and doesn’t have her hands tied.
“Go time.” Steel gives the final order after the final system goes down, and we cross the desert as quickly as possible so we don’t get showered in bullets .
Aimee’s ring presses against my leg with every step from where it sits in my pocket, reminding me to stay focused.
I’ve completed hundreds of missions. This is just one more.
The stretch of desert feels endless. There’s nowhere to hide with the sun still high in the sky. Gunfire begins when we’re still too far away. But no one turns back. We fall into formation with our guns lifted and shoot back, surrounding the clubhouse.
By the time my boots reach the front steps, I find my center.
My peace.
Everyone splits off in different directions as we storm the clubhouse.
The LA chapter is already here, spreading out. One group, led by their president, Blaze, sweeps right, while the group with their VP, Sage, goes left. I head straight to the hallway—to the one place I know Titan will be keeping Aimee.
His room.
Soul stays at my left and Ghost at my right as we head down the hallway. We sweep each room we pass, leaving patch bunnies or general staff unharmed, and calling for members to help get them out. Most started running at the sound of gunshots, but a few are too drugged to know what’s happening.
While we plan to shoot down any Iron Sinner on sight, most of the women aren’t here by choice. Which is why the Santa Fe chapter’s orders were to stay outside and get the innocents out of here.
Gunfire rings through the hall as an explosion comes from the fence line. But I keep my gun lifted and my focus on the door ahead, surprised to find it unguarded.
There’s no loyalty among Titan’s men. They’re too selfish to actually care about the well-being of their president, so I should have expected them to abandon their posts in the chaos. He rules with fear, and right now his men are drowning in it.
When I reach the door, I try the handle and find it unlocked.
Quickly, I shove the door open, sweeping into the room with Soul and Ghost. We fan out, and the first person I come across is Anderson, who is chained to the floor in the corner. He’s unconscious but breathing.
When I turn, I spot Aimee, and my heart stops in my chest.
My gun slowly lowers.
She’s sitting over Titan, covered in blood. His eyes are empty and vacant, and she’s staring at him. There’s a bloody knife gripped firmly in her hand, and she’s so still, it’s like she’s barely breathing.
I tuck my gun away and hurry over to her. “Aimee.”
Her name snaps her out of her trance, but when I reach for her arms, she begins to wail and fight. The knife in her hand slashes through the air, barely missing me.
I take a step back before she cuts me, and I hold my hands up. “Aimee, it’s me, Levi. You’re okay. ”
She flails her arms once more, still straddling Titan’s bloody body. Until her gaze locks on me and she instantly stills. Her fingers unclench, and the knife clatters to the ground. Her lips part as the first tear streaks down her blood-stained cheek.
“We’re going to clear the hall.” Ghost and Soul must have found no other threat in the room because they rush to help those struggling in the hallway.
But I don’t leave Aimee. I don’t dare even break her stare as I take a cautious step forward.
“I’m here.” I carefully approach. “I’m here.”
Aimee blinks, and another tear rolls down her cheek. It’s the only sign she’s feeling anything as her expression remains blank.
When I finally reach her, I squat down to bring myself to eye level.
“It’s over.” I hold out my hand.
She reaches for me, but the moment her eyes fall to my hand, she seems to realize where she is because she looks down at Titan, dead beneath her.
Aimee jolts back, almost falling as she hurries to climb off Titan’s body. She pushes her hands under her and scoots until she’s on the ground beside a trapdoor that seems to lead to a tunnel.
The scene becomes clear to me then. He must have tried to get her out when he first heard gunshots, so she took matters into her own hands.
“I—” Aimee stares at Titan, her breath racing. “I killed him. He would have killed me. He would have—”
She stumbles over her words. Not finishing any thoughts as her eyes dart around the room.
“You did the right thing.”
At that, her stare fixes on mine. The force of the earth hits me in the center of my chest as she looks into my eyes.
I inch closer to her. “You did the right thing. He isn’t going to hurt you anymore.”
“You’re here.”
Her eyes widen like she’s seeing me for the first time. Her lips part with a sharp breath, and I reach for her again.
This time, she flies into my arms. Her body melts against mine, and I do my best to stay between her and the door in case anyone barrels in here. The battle between clubs still rages through the clubhouse. Through the desert.
But I don’t let Aimee go as a sob rips out of her, and she cries like she’s shedding everything her body has been holding back for years.
Her tears soak through my shirt, and her blood-stained body is sticky against me. But I don’t care. I keep her tight to my chest and let her hand me everything she’s feeling. I accept her tears and listen to her cries.
She melts in my arms. Her hard shell slipping away.
I vaguely hear Steel enter the room, talking to Soul. Chains rattle, and I look long enough to see them removing Aimee’s father. He’s still unconscious as they lift him from the room. Apart from the occasional gunshot, the clubhouse is now just a series of voices .
This far out, no one would have heard any of it, even the explosions. And since Aimee took down their emergency alarms before we entered, they couldn’t call to warn anyone.
Titan is dead. His club destroyed.
All that’s left to do is watch it burn and make sure nothing traces back to us.
By the time Aimee stops crying, Soul comes back into the room. He doesn’t say anything, but his gaze pauses on Aimee in my arms, and the pain in his eyes is evident.
When he looks at me, he nods, as if to say we did it.
She’s safe.
And it’s time to go.
Soul walks out, and I brush the side of Aimee’s head. “We need to go, firecracker.”
She pulls back and looks up at me. Blood is in her hair, on her face, on her clothes.
“We can’t be caught here.”
Her gaze drifts to Titan a final time, but she doesn’t say anything as she stands. When she looks at the chains, I answer before she can ask.
“Steel has your dad. Patch will take care of him.”
A frown forms on her face. “This was all his fault.”
“What do you mean?”
She shakes her head. “I’ll tell you about it later. Let’s just get out of here.”
Her gaze drops to the floor at that, and I realize she doesn’t want to look around. I can’t imagine the memories this place holds. Every step has me wishing Titan were alive so I could make him suffer a little longer.
When we pass through the clubhouse, bodies are strewn about. Anyone killed outside is being carried in to consolidate the mess. Twisted Kings swarm through as they prepare for cleanup, but when they see Aimee, they pause.
No one says anything, but they must have already heard she’s the one who killed Titan because she’s met with respect as they clear a path and let her through.
When we’re finally outside and all the Twisted Kings have cleared out, Steel stops beside us.
“Ready?”
I nod.
“Light it up.”
Aimee stays tucked to my side as Soul lowers his lighter to a wet patch of dirt.
Flames swallow the spot in an instant, rushing along the ground where the line of gasoline draws a path to the clubhouse.
It climbs the porch, the walls, the roof.
Until the Iron Sinners clubhouse is nothing but flames in the desert.
It’s a good thing a wide section around the clubhouse is concrete and dirt, or I’d be worried about it spreading.
The flames grow, and it’s like hell knows what to claim. The wind stills to allow this beacon of destruction to rage. So the devil can drag his souls home.
The fire is blistering hot, even from where Aimee and I are standing at a distance.
Sweat beads on my face. But Aimee doesn’t move.
She watches the clubhouse burn, the flames grow, and the roof collapse.
Until the Iron Sinners are nothing but a plume of smoke and ash.
Her shoulders finally relax, and I wonder if she feels the same relief at the sight as I do.
It’s over.